In an ante-chamber, later called the Bull's Eye by
reason of its unique oval window, courtiers were wont to gossip and
intrigue while they awaited the King's rising. A quaint painting by a
French artist presents Louis XIV and his family in the character of
pagan deities. Next to the Bull's Eye was the room in which the King
dined on occasion. The Hall of the King's Guards was near of approach
to the Marble Staircase and to the ample and ornate apartments of
Madame de Maintenon. The wonders of this Hall are also departed. In a
group of small rooms were rich stores of objects of art, medals,
cameos, onyx, bronzes, and gems of great value.
The State Apartments of the Queens of France were entirely altered in
their decoration as one queen succeeded another. Marie Therese was the
first to occupy them. We are told that before her bed there stood a
railing of silver, that later gave way, for economical reasons, to one
carved in wood. In the Grand Cabinet the wife of Louis the Great
received in audience those that the King commanded. Here, at the end
of a short and insignificant period as mistress of Versailles, Marie
Therese died, July 30, 1683.
One of the few apartments that still retains the aspect it bore in King
Louis the Fourteenth's reign is the Hall of the Queen's Guards, which
had a door on the landing of the marble stair, also called the Queen's
Staircase. This was the flight of steps most used in the time of
Louis, since it led to the apartments of the sovereign, the Queen
Madame de Maintenon.
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